Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Aerobic Exercise Beneficial for Patients With Cancer-related Fatigue

Aerobic
exercise can be regarded as beneficial for individuals with cancer-related fatigue
during and postcancer therapy, specifically those with solid tumors, say
authors of an updated version of an original Cochrane
review published in The Cochrane Library in 2008.

For this update, the authors searched the Cochrane
Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, British Nursing
Index, AMED, SIGLE, Dissertation Abstracts International, and reference lists
of all studies identified for inclusion and relevant reviews. In addition, they
hand-searched relevant journals and contacted experts in the field of
cancer-related fatigue.

They identified a total of 56 studies (4,068
participants) for inclusion (28 from the original search and 28 from the
updated search), with the majority carried out in participants with breast
cancer (28 studies). A meta-analysis of all fatigue data, incorporating 38
comparisons, provided data for 1,461 participants who received an exercise
intervention and 1,187 control participants. At the end of the intervention
period exercise was seen to be statistically more effective than the control
intervention. Benefits of exercise on fatigue were observed for interventions
delivered during or postadjuvant cancer therapy. In relation to diagnosis, the
authors identified benefits of exercise on fatigue for breast and prostate
cancer but not for those with hematological malignancies. Aerobic exercise
significantly reduced fatigue, but resistance training and alternative forms of
exercise failed to reach significance.

"We're not expecting people to go out and be running a mile the next
day," Fiona Cramp, who worked on the analysis at the University of the
West of England in Bristol, told Reuters News. "Some people will
be well enough that they're able to go for a jog or go for a bike ride, and if they
can, that's great. But we would encourage people to start with a low
level."